THE FOCACCIA

Focaccia is perfection. A simple and very difficult thing to make: it's just water, salt, flour and oil (olive oil, of course) but try to make it properly, in the same way as Genoese bakers. Impossible. Maybe it's the air, maybe it's the water, maybe it's the magic, but you just have to move a few kilometers and everything changes. Among the variants: one is the sardenaira, focaccia with tomato, garlic, capers and especially sardines that can be enjoyed near Sanremo.

 FOCACCIA DI RECCO (OR WITH CHEESE)

It's still called focaccia, but it's something else entirely. Stuff that is even more difficult to produce. In a nutshell: not a single, homogeneous pan of spongy dough but two very thin layers without yeast stuffed with cheese of a single cheese: stracchino (or crescenza).

Again, the farther away you are from the epicenter of production - Recco, just after the eastern border of Genoa, a step before Camogli and the Cinque Terre -, the more difficult it is to find it perfect. No one knows why, but that's the way it is.

P.S. then there are the variants such as pizzata, which is a cheese focaccia with tomato, olives, capers and anchovies on top.

 THE FARINATA

It's a very simple thing: in a "testo" (that's the name of the large round and very low pans) you pour a mixture made of water, chickpea flour, oil and salt and cook it at very high temperatures. What comes out is perfect: a huge uneven disc - scorched here, a little raw there - with a yellowish color, very crunchy on the surface and very tender already the millimeter below (a bit of a crème brùlée effect).

P.S. there are variants here too. In Savona, for example, they make wheat (they call it "white") and I like it even better. Then there are those who accessorize it with onions, gorgonzola, rosemary.

 THE SLICES (OR PANISSA)

Don't confuse the name: Ligurian panissa - or slices - has nothing to do with the Vercelli rice dish of the same name. In the Savona area, this is what it is: in semi-cylindrical aluminum shapes, a mixture of chickpea flour, water and salt is cooked, similar to that of farinata. Cooled it. It is sliced into crescents. These are then fried and eaten in two ways: either "in purity" or, better, contained in a fugasssette, a white white loaf, very soft.

 THE PANIGACCI

It is easier to eat panigacci - as well as, say, tigelle modenesi - sitting comfortably in front of a red and white checkered tablecloth with a nice tray of cheeses and cold cuts next to it, but their very nature also lends itself to consumption accompanied by a slice of salami.

Panigaccio is a tradition of Lunigiana, on the border between Liguria and Tuscany, and is a sort of unleavened piadinetta made simply of flour, water and salt.

 FRIED LAND AND SEA FOOD

The foil is by definition a street container. No more aluminum trays, no more plastic bags: a nice sheet of brown paper rolled up in a cone, possibly accessorized with wax paper, is the best friend of the man who walks.

And if it's full of typical Ligurian fried food, it's a friend who is a treasure. On the Riviera, everything is fried, but the most convincing things are the poor ones. To talk about earth, we point out the frisceu which are very simple batter fritters. Frisceu are the classic festival morsel consisting of a nice bag of greasy and greasy pellets flavored with rosemary.

Then, lying on the ground, fry the vegetables, on top of all the zucchini flowers. The list of fried fish is much richer, because in the red-hot oil the poor fish gives the best of itself. Very popular are the anchovy wrappers and other blue fish, such as pinoetti (small fish), cicciarelli (other small fish, typical of Noli, near Savona). Fried food is the street food par excellence: convenient, tasty, lush, cheap.

 MEATLOAF, VEGETABLE PIES, CHESTNUT CAKES, FILLINGS

Savoury pies are a must of the Genoese takeaway tradition: you take a slice in the oven, sit on a bench and a complete lunch - carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins - is served.

What are they? Pasqualina, for example, is a puff pastry cake with eggs, artichokes, chard, breadcrumbs, etc. inside. The Ligurian meatloaf is made with vegetables (the legendary one with green beans), and the same vegetables - zucchini, onions, eggplants and so on - are stuffed with ancient art; Then, in autumn, the chestnut arrives. All pop, poor things, forerunners of the finger food fashion. Nothing is invented: today at parties you eat with your hands because it is cooI, once upon a time farmers ate with their hands because they broke their backs in the fields.

The focaccia di Recco is a typical Ligurian recipe, also known as focaccia with cheese. It has obtained the recognition of PGI product and is protected by the Focaccia di Recco with the cheese Consortium. According to the original recipe, the focaccia di Recco consists of two very thin layers of dough made with flour and olive oil (without yeast), stuffed internally with stracchino. This is one of my great satisfactions! It seems like an easy dish, but its preparation is very complex. The focaccia dough must be rolled out very thinly, like phyllo pastry sheets! Otherwise, the result is a simple stuffed focaccia and it's definitely something else. Let's prepare it together!

Ingredients

Flour 400 g

Water 250 ml

Olive oil 50 ml

Salt 1 tbsp

Stracchino cheese 400 g

Preparation

Pour water, oil and salt into a bowl and mix with a whisk until the salt dissolves. Add the flour a little at a time and mix with a whisk. When the mixture is no longer workable with the whisk, continue with your hands. Transfer the dough to the work surface and continue to knead until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap greased with a little olive oil and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. Then divide the dough in half. Roll out the two very thin loaves (you should see the hand in transparency). Place the first one on the baking sheet by pulling the edges. With the help of a teaspoon, spread the crescenza, then cover with the other thin layer of dough. Cut off the excess dough and close the edges. Pinch on the surface to create holes, add salt and brush with oil all over the surface. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 230 C degrees. Recco's focaccia is a real treat! Preparing it at home is a great satisfaction. 🙂 You can try this popular Italian street food at home.